Guest post – Too Charming by Kathryn Freeman

Detective Sergeant Megan Taylor thinks so. She once lost her heart to a man who was too charming and she isn’t about to make the same mistake again – especially not with sexy defence lawyer, Scott Armstrong. Aside from being far too sure of himself for his own good, Scott’s major flaw is he defends the very people that she works so hard to imprison.

But when Scott wants something he goes for it. And he wants Megan. One day she’ll see him not as a lawyer, but as a man – and that’s when she’ll fall for him.

Yet just as Scott seems to be making inroads, a case presents itself that’s far too close to home, throwing his life into chaos.

As Megan helps him pick up the pieces, can he persuade her he isn’t the careless charmer she thinks he is? Isn’t a man innocent until proven guilty?

I do wish there were more reading hours in the day – I so want to read every book Choc Lit publishes, but have to accept that I just can’t! This one sounds excellent – Too Charming by Kathryn Freeman was published in the UK in paperback on 7th June (also available for Kindle, and through Amazon for US readers). I’m delighted to welcome Kathryn to Being Anne…

Thank you so much for having me on your blog, Anne!

I thought I would take the opportunity to tell you why for me, choosing a hero to write about is a bit like choosing a chocolate from a large fancy gift box …

The surge of pleasure, the anticipation, the licking of the lips. There are so many varieties to deliberate over – and I would enjoy every one of them (though maybe not the Turkish Delight, which surely is a misnomer). But the real pleasure comes not from picking the one you’ve had before – delicious though it might be – but from trying a different flavour.

That is how the hero of Too Charming, Scott Armstrong, was born in my imagination. My first paperback had featured a rugged, gruff hero who wouldn’t have had the first clue how to charm (though that, in itself, gave him a certain charm, I hope). To me he was the nutty chocolate, the one with bite.

But I’d already sampled and enjoyed that, so when it came to writing the next book, I was after a totally different flavour. I went for the rich, dark, dreamy truffle. In male terms, a sexy, charming lawyer. A flirt, a total ladies man who knows how to get a woman eating out of his hands. He even drives the sports car – and on weekends, the Harley-Davidson.

But before you start to think he’s a little too smooth, too cocky – dare I say it, too charming – he isn’t all he seems from the outside. A truffle is scrumptious to look at and the first taste is divine, but then you’re hit by a surprising texture. Further layers that slowly hit the tongue long after that first bite. I hope I achieved this with Scott – that when he meets his match in the form of my heroine, police detective Megan Taylor, some of his more glossy layers start to peel off.

I’ve just dipped back into that variety box again with the book I’m currently editing and this time I’ve selected a rich, plain, dark chocolate in Jim Knight, head of the research and development department of Helix pharmaceuticals. There is nothing elaborate about Jim and his dark good looks, nothing hidden. What you see is what you get.

It’s no wonder chocolate seems to goes hand in hand with romance. Some even believe chocolate is an aphrodisiac because it contains the same chemical produced by the brain of people in love (phenylethylamine, PEA). This creates those wonderful feelings of euphoria, much like taking a bite of chocolate. Sadly enzymes in the blood soon break it down – but perhaps that’s why we always crave another one. And why I crave writing another hero.

Thanks for that Kathryn – apologies for talking with my mouth full, but I just had to have some chocolate…! Best of luck with the paperback… and I’ll look forward to meeting Jim Knight when he’s ready, he sounds just my type…

A former pharmacist, Kathryn is now a medical writer who also writes romance. Some days a racing heart is a medical condition, others it’s the reaction to a hunky hero.

With two teenage boys and a husband who huffs at buying a Valentine’s Day card, any romance is all in her head. Then again, as Kathryn says, his unstinting support of her career change proves love isn’t always about hearts and flowers – and heroes come in many disguises.